Final Reflection

Parting is such sweet sorrow!  This class was a challenge for me, but I definitely learned a lot over the course of the summer.  I was exposed to several different tools and resources, many of which I did not know even existed.  I am now competent in numerous different web resources and web 2.0 tools.  If I am not competent in some, I have at least been exposed to them and witnessed the benefits of using and incorporating different technologies into the classroom.  This course was a little out of my comfort zone but overall it was very helpful, and I feel much better equipped to teach in the 21st century!  I can't believe that the summer is already drawing to a close.  I look forward to incorporating some of the things I have learned into my internship this year.  Jeff was a great teacher!  I have no idea how he was able to be so patient with me!  I've never been extremely savvy when it comes to technology but I definitely feel a lot more comfortable now and will hopefully be putting my new skills to use in the near future!  Thanks for another great adventure.

My First Project with iMovie

Digital Stories

I absolutely love digital stories and the idea of incorporating them into the classroom. iMovie was difficult for me to navigate at first. I was easily frustrated in the beginning and I still consider myself a novice iMovie user. My comfort level increased as my exposure to the program did. The benefits and uses of this tool are numerous. Students and teachers alike can use this resource in the classroom through book talks, book trailers, and numerous other media and presentations.

Animoto

Animoto is a website tool that was designed to enable people to create video slide shows to express and share stories. This application allows beginner users to create high quality videos and photo albums. Users can produce 30 seconds videos at no cost, purchase a Plus Plan for $5 a month or a Pro Plan for $39 a month. These more advanced plans allow the user to access more features. Plus Animoto offers a free version for teachers! This tool is a great resource to make mini-movies or small presentations. Students and teachers alike can use this great resource! As an English teacher I can definitely see myself using this tool for book talks or having students make their own book trailers as an assessment or summary.

Google Forms

Google Forms is an amazing resource for teachers and students alike. Google already offers: documents, spreadsheets, drawings, presentations, and now forms. I think this would be great to use in the classroom for quizzes, student projects or assignments, and possibly student feedback. I love that you can create your own test with this tool. You can make it multiple choice or short answer, which is really convenient. My only concern is for those students who do not have internet access at home.

Feeling the Inspiration

Inspiration is software available online that supports visual thinking and enables students to easily create and update graphic organizers. Inspiration also offers Webspiration for the classroom that can be used to help improve reading and writing skills! This program is great for visual learners and great for just keeping information and connections organized. I love Inspiration! I think this is an excellent tool for the classroom. I really love that they offer a free 30 day trial. If you have the patience to download the free-trial for each of your students, you could really come up with some neat projects and collaboration.

Tagxedo

Tagxedo is a website that allows you to turn blogs, tweets, status updates, and any other text into a "word cloud" or word art. Users have the opportunity to choose their own words, shape, and template. You can even upload your own picture, pick layouts, fonts and color schemes to create word cloud unique to you. This word art or cloud, can be saved or printed directly from the website.
To create this Tagxedo I merely copied the link to this blog and pasted into the form and it created this image. I played around with some of the fonts, shapes, and colors. Tagxedo is very similar to Wordle but has a few more bells and whistles. It is fun and I can't wait to incorporate this tool into the classroom!